Panboola Wetlands parkrun volunteers highlighted for Volunteers week

And as is the case with all parkruns, the success is thanks to the work of a group of selfless volunteers, giving up their Saturday mornings so that people can have a healthy start to the day.

With parkrun events held all over the world, events rely entirely on the work of volunteers, from timekeepers and photographers to barcode-scanners, tail-walkers and course marshals.

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Panboola's parkrun began in March of 2022, after the Merimbula parkrun was forced to relocate due to risks associated with the course.

Now coming up on its 60th event, the course has hosted more than 3700 runners, joggers or walkers through the lively wetlands of Panboola and around the Old Pambula Racecourse.

Event director Peter Dickson has volunteered at parkrun since 2014, firstly in Merimbula and now at Panboola, overseeing volunteers and ensuring the safety of competitors.

"We've never had to cancel an event," Dickson said.

"We've been very lucky, thanks to all the volunteers for putting their hands up."

Dickson said volunteering at parkrun was extremely rewarding, cheering people on alongside other volunteers, and seeing participants return each week to work towards their goals.

"It's good seeing people cross over the line, clapping them on and and encouraging them. The fact that I've seen people go from the couch, to walking five kilometres, to running five kilometres, to now running half marathons and marathons, it's truly an amazing thing."

While finding volunteers was sometimes tricky, Dickson said he had been lucky to have the help of a core group of run directors and regulars, one volunteer, Davina Hewes, having volunteered at more than 200 parkruns.

"That's nearly four years of Saturdays, donating her time and we do make a big fuss about that," he said

"The event doesn't happen without the run directors who help to get volunteers each week."

Panboola parkrun's run directors are Andy Gibbs, Angus Lamb, Glenn Edmunds Peter Dickson and Alec McQueen, who took on director duties last year after spending years volunteering in various other parkrun roles.

"I was delighted to do it. Parkrun is a passion of mine. When I started I had no idea what it was and since then I've probably done close to 300 parkruns," McQueen said.

"It's just a fantastic concept and the health benefits for the participants is fantastic, but also the health benefits mentally and otherwise for the volunteers as well. Everyone gets a benefit here."

Relishing the new role, McQueen said he always looked forward to seeing new volunteers put their hand up and said he would encourage more people to give it a go.

"It's one of the ways that you meet new people. There is a lot of comradery between the volunteers and the thing we always like to encourage is that we get new people volunteering each week.

"People shouldn't be concerned about being able to do it because they're very simple roles and we provide full training," he said.

While the event has been able to manage so far, Dickson said there was always room for more volunteers.

While in the past it was enforced that if you wanted to participate in parkrun events regularly you were required to volunteer at least three times each year, Mr Dickson said parkrun moved away from that.

"We want the volunteers to put their hands up, and do it because they love it." he said.

"Come down. Make sure you've joined parkrun online and talk to the director on the day," Dickson said.

Anyone can volunteer at parkrun event, kids included, with a range of roles needed to be filled each week.

You can find out more information about volunteering at Panboola Wetlands parkrun here, or Bega parkrun here.

Events are held each Saturday morning, and start at 8am, with volunteers meeting beforehand.

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